Baldwin County's 'Gator Man' says he always wanted to work with alligators

(Press-Register/Lesley Farrey Pacey)Wesley Moore, Baldwin County's own "Gator Man," entices an alligator out of the water for a feeding at Alligator Alley Farm in Summerdale. Moore, who owns more than 200 alligators at the farm, feeds the reptiles three times a day.

SUMMERDALE, Ala. -- Wesley Moore is Baldwin County's own "Gator Man."

Wesley Moore, Baldwin County's "Gator Man"

For nearly five years, the third-generation Baldwin County man has owned and operated Alligator Alley in Summerdale -- an alligator sanctuary and tourist attraction that boasts more than 200 alligators ranging in size from hatchlings to 13½ feet.

His job includes feeding the alligators during shows three times daily -- a task that can get dicey.

"If someone says, 'I am not afraid of alligators,' I say, 'You are a moron.' I work with alligators every day and they scare the living daylights out of me. I am constantly on alert, but I do get close to my alligators because I like to show people the mechanics of the animal."

Moore, who has a degree in wildlife and fisheries from Auburn University, had always wanted to work with alligators.

"Some kids say, 'I want to be a doctor or a lawyer when I grow up,'" he said. "I would say, 'Hey, I am going to be an alligator guy.'"

Moore's interest in the reptile began when his grandfather, Ted Childress, who originally owned the property, introduced him to Old Joe, an alligator he put on the property in 1965 to control the beaver population. The beavers were damming up the spillway to the channel Childress dug to irrigate his 320-acre farm, causing flooding.

"My cousin and myself were about 4 or 5 years old when we started to feed Old Joe," Moore said. The gator eventually grew to be 13 feet. "That was a real treat for a little boy. At that age, you are very impressionable. You are either going to be terrified or fascinated -- and I was fascinated."

Moore, who spent summers at his grandparents' home in Orange Beach, has been a professional fishing guide for 14 years. His mother, former Baldwin County school board member Margaret Long, grew up in Orange Beach.

"My grandparents were permanent residents of Orange Beach since 1947," he said.

In 2001, he married his wife, Elizabeth. Her work took them for two years to England, where they made it their goal to see the world. The couple has been to South Africa, Finland, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Austria and all over the Netherlands.

"I always tell people, 'I'm probably one of the most well-traveled alligator people you will meet,'" he said. "I have traveled the four corners of the Earth. Most people have a preconceived notion that people from Alabama are just local yokels. I can tell you what the sunrise looks like in South Africa and I have been on two runs on an Olympic bobsled in Norway."

The Moores returned to Baldwin County in December 2003 and opened the alligator farm July 2, 2004.

The alligators on Moore's farm are nuisance alligators rescued and relocated from Florida, he said.

They roam more than 20 acres of natural cypress swampland while visitors behind fences and atop elevated boardwalks safely observe them feeding, courting and nesting. His alligators include Captain Crunch, who boasts a world record bite at 2,982 pounds.
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